How to visit the new 9/11 Memorial at World Trade Center

The 9/11 Memorial at the World Trade Center, opened officially on September 11, 2011, the Tenth Anniversary of the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center that changed all of us forever. Anyone can register for FREE passes for a specific date and time. Note that you cannot enter without a reservation.

Be prepared for extensive security screening, similar to airport security screening, to enter the memorial. Although you will be admitted to the museum at the time printed on your pass, the length of time each pass holder can spend on the memorial plaza will not be limited, Joe Daniels, president of the National September 11 Memorial and Museum, told the New York Times. The 9/11 Museum is due to open in 2012, and that will have an admission fee. The 9/11 Memorial is separate from the museum, and free.

The 9/11 Memorial Preview Site at 20 Vesey Street, across the street from the World Trade Center, is remaining open for those unable to get in to the official museum site and store, where you can buy official NYPD and FDNY memorabilia, books and other items that help support the official 9/11 museum. Even if you can’t get a pass for the new museum, the preview site is compelling and interesting. And crowded. Please purchase your World Trade Center and 9/11 souvenirs here, since proceeds support the museum and memorial. When you purchase from a street vendor, the vendor keep the proceeds. I haven’t asked each one, but I truly doubt any of them share proceeds with the museum.

And as I’ve written before, I’m one of many New Yorkers who have never ever called it Ground Zero and never will. It was the World Trade Center before 9/11, and new skyscrapers being completed, and the memorial and museum opening, it is the new World Trade Center.

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